Disaster Recovery Planning

Moving to Cloud Backup For Disaster Planning

webmaster — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:56:49 -0700

While disaster recovery planning trends can be tricky, it is safe to say that the job of managing and safeguarding data in a distributed environment is leading to a cloudconnected future. Step one in this shift is to stay ahead of the curve. If you have not upgraded your organization's infrastructure to move beyond legacy technologies, you should consider the dramatic benefits provided by this new generation of more capable, secure, efficient, and affordable cloud-connected data protection solutions.

If you are planning an overhaul of key IT responsibilities such as backup and recovery, you should look beyond disk-to-disk offerings to the benefits of cloud connectivity. With distinct yet seamlessly integrated on-premise, SaaS, and hybrid deployment models, you are sure to find the right mixture for your enterprise. And if you need assistance, CCSP-certified VARs and resellers are ready to help you get started.

Cloud computing makes disaster recovery easier for SMBs

webmaster — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:57:53 -0700

Cloud computing has completely revolutionizing business continuity for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). The United States Small Business Administration stated that SMBs fall into one of two categories: those that have endured a disaster and those that will. They go on to say that nearly 40 percent of those who go through a disaster will not be able to recover. The threat is real, and SMB owners are aware of it. However with tight budgets, there is little room for hardware infrastructure and specialized staff to maintain it. Still, SMBs rely heavily on technology like Websites, inventory, point-of-sale software, staff scheduling programs, email, and record keeping. In the case of legal and medical (also, financial and some manufacturing), there are strict compliance regulations about things like how long records must be kept and how much time businesses are allotted to produce a record on demand. If one of these businesses loses access to its technology for a day, or even an hour, serious consequences (fines, lost revenue, lost customer data and confidence)
could occur that are difficult to recover from. It remains critical that SMBs have a current copy of their data stored somewhere safe and accessible. In the past decade, this process was so expensive that many SMBs resorted to dodgy tape-based backup systems - or, worse, theyve done nothing and hoped for the best.

With the advent of cloud computing, instead of just crossing their fingers or paying for the hardware, software, space, and staff required for storage, an entire mid-sized corporation can rent enough cloud space to keep a real-time, full-server backup copy of all its data, applications, and operating systems. Real time means that every keystroke, every email, every bit and byte is safe, and full-server means that every application and even the whole operating system is safe and available. And it gets better: it's also now possible to copy data into the cloud in real time, and its possible to retrieve it from the cloud... just as fast.

What this means for SMBs is that if the store burns down or is flooded, daily operations can resume in minutes instead of daysor never.

DRP versus BCP

webmaster — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:30:26 -0700

Disaster recovery planning is one of the most important jobs of the IT professional. It includes working with upper management and winning the cooperation of all departments to make a working recovery plan. The two main parts are the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP). These have to go hand-in-hand procedurally. The BCP focuses more on the schedule and timing of the DRP, so that in the event of a disaster the business can function normally. The three stages of a DRP are Prevent, Detect and Correct.

Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Basics

webmaster — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:56:27 -0700

The basics of a Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Plan are defined in the Janco Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Template. They are:

Develop the contingency planning policy statement. A formal department or agency policy provides the authority and guidance necessary to develop an effective contingency plan.
Conduct the business impact analysis (BIA). The BIA helps to identify and prioritize critical IT systems and components.
Identify preventive controls. Measures taken to reduce the effects of system disruptions can increase system availability and reduce contingency life cycle costs.
Develop recovery strategies. Thorough recovery strategies ensure that the system may be recovered quickly and effectively following a disruption.
Develop an IT contingency plan. The contingency plan should contain detailed guidance and procedures for restoring a damaged system.
Plan testing, training and exercises. Testing the plan identifies planning gaps, whereas training prepares recovery personnel for plan activation; both activities improve plan effectiveness and overall agency preparedness.
Plan maintenance. The plan should be a living document that is updated regularly to remain current with system enhancements.

Successful Disaster Planning and Business Continuity Planning Processes

webmaster — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:31:02 -0700

The success of most business depends on Information Technology. However, business and technology environments are becoming more complex. Being prepared to respond to non-typical events - both planned and unexpected - that threaten to disrupt essential business systems and processes, is a major corporate concern.

A recent survey found that disaster recovery planning is a priority for many organizations. Eighty-six percent of IT executives said they have a disaster recovery plan in place at their organization. While the economy has affected IT budgets overall, 43 percent of IT respondents indicated the economy has not affected their disaster recovery investment (including planning) - with another 33 percent, saying investment in disaster recovery has become more important.

Organizations cannot control whether or not they will be affected by a natural disaster, power outage or other unplanned incident, but they can work to help ensure their business is prepared to respond to and recover from these events with minimal impact. Disaster recovery planning is an organizational requirement that can help reduce risk and help companies effectively respond to situations that threaten to disrupt essential business processes.

Janco Associates has found that enterprises that are successful:

Focus on employee safety. Every disaster recovery plan needs to begin by addressing the physical safety and psychological well-being of employees. That means the plan must include alternative locations where employees can go if a primary work site is unavailable, as well as incident notification and escalation strategies. In addition, the plan needs to be well communicated throughout the organization so everyone knows how to respond in a disaster situation.
Conduct a business and IT impact analysis. Carry out a thorough analysis of people, information, application, and other resources to build an understanding of the consequences - financial and operational - of losing vital components. Take particular care to uncover interdependencies across the organization that is critical to staying in business. This analysis will provide a solid foundation for establishing recovery priorities and timeframes in your plan, allowing you to make informed decisions on where and how much to invest in disaster recovery.
Plan with business operations in mind. Involve all key stakeholders in the planning process, including IT, business leaders, human resources, corporate communications, and physical and information security managers. Be sure that in planning you coordinate with other business units in your organization to avoid potential conflicts, such as multiple business units depending on the same facility as a secondary site in response to an interruption.
Make the disaster recovery plan a living document. Business processes and IT systems undergo constant change in every organization. Your disaster recovery plan needs to keep pace with new workflows, business applications, and computer systems. Disaster recovery planning software can provide best practice methodologies to help you navigate through planning decisions and plan updates. In addition, regular testing will help you demonstrate your ability to recover and pinpoint areas for plan improvements.

Major Disaster Recovery Failure with an Outsource Provider

webmaster — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 07:44:33 -0700

Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles along with 25 other state agencies hasn't been able to process requests for licenses and ID cards. These systems are supposed to be up and running six days after the outages started to appear.Northrop Grumman manages Virginia's IT infrastructure under a $2.3 billion IT services contract.

The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) said in a statement that teams have been working throughout the weekend to restore data. In a nutshell, the IT infrastructure of the state of Virginia was reportedly crushed by an EMC storage area network failure. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that several systems are still down. The same paper said that Northrop Grumman will have to pay a fine for the failure. And the real kicker is that recently revised its contract with Northrop Grumman and extended the deal for three years. The state paid an additional $236 million for better service from Northrop Grumman.

Highlights of the Revised Contract - Operational Efficiencies

Consolidates and strengthens Performance Level Standards with a 15% increase in penalties across the board if Northrop Grumman fails to perform on clearly identified and measured performance standards. - PAY-UP
Improves Incident Response teams to determine technology failures and expedite repair - FAILED
Institutes clear performance measurements for Northrop Grumman that agencies can easily track - FAILED
Adds new services to contract such as improved disaster recovery and enhanced security features - FAILED

Among the key parts of the VITA statement:

Successful repair to the storage system hardware is complete, and all but three or possibly four agencies out of the 26 agency systems have been restored. Agencies continue to perform verification testing.

Progress continues, but work is not yet complete for the three or four agencies that have some of the largest and most complex databases. These databases make the restoration process extremely time consuming. The unfortunate result is the agencies will not be able to process some customer transactions until additional testing and validation are complete.

According to the manufacturer of the storage system (EMC), the events that led to the outage appear to be unprecedented. The manufacturer reports that the system and its underlying technology have an exemplary history of reliability, industry-leading data availability of more than 99.999% and no similar failure in one billion hours of run time.

The outage was blamed on the failure of two circuit boards installed and maintained by EMC. It is a big disconcerting that two circuit boards can bring down a states IT infrastructure for nearly a week.

Among the things that don't add up in the Virginia IT outage:

Why wouldn't these boards be replaced quickly?
Why was there a single point of failure?
Service was restored for 16 agencies, but 10 require a lengthy restoration of data. Where was the disaster planning? After all, Northrop Grumman touted its disaster recovery for the state just two years ago.
Where did the IT management fail?

ISO business continuity standard

webmaster — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:29:50 -0700

In 2007 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), published the ISO/PAS 22399:2007 Societal security Guideline for incident preparedness and operational continuity management. This was the first internationally-ratified benchmark addressing incident preparedness and continuity management for both the public and private sector.

It was unanimously passed by the 50 countries that participate in the committee and provides an international agreed upon benchmark for emergency and disaster management for individual organizations. In the UK the has created BS 25999, the Business Continuity Management Code of Practice offering general guidance, and the Specification for Business Continuity Management, listing the requirements that can be objectively and independently audited.

It goes without saying that every company, regardless of size, needs a concise business continuity plan in case of an emergency. If you don't have a disaster recovery plan or haven't updated yours recently, now is the time to take this critical step to protect your business.

At the same time there are more security requirements that need to be met. With mandated requirements like Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and ITIL, executive management is depending on you to have the right security policies and procedures in place.

Disaster recovery and business continuity planning issues

webmaster — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:53:27 -0700

Disaster recovery and business continuity management and contingency planning are essential especially in these economic times. However, the creation, testing, and updating of a sound disaster recovery and continuity and contingency plan is costly and complex.

For example, initially it is necessary to understand the underlying risks and the potential impacts of disaster. This is the primary building block upon which sensible and cost effective business continuity plan or disaster recovery plan is built. When the plan itself is created, there are the maintenance and testing phases, to ensure that the plan remains current. Even having arranged all these matters there are the external auditors to consider - and of course, there is the not so small matter of ISO 27000, SOX, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS compliance.

The industry standard solution is the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Template by Janco Associates. The template includes all of the right tools to assist with business impact analysis and risk analysis. You can quickly create a core plan (some of Janco's clients have created an operational plan in less than thirty days), maintain the plan, audit the DRP BCP, and create a cost effective budget to support the disaster recovery business continuity process.

UPS is a first step in a basic DRP

webmaster — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:19:42 -0700

An extended power outage, which can strike at any time, can prevent unprotected computers from initiating their required shutdown procedure. PC and Server operating systems are not designed to support abrupt losses of power known as "hard" shutdowns, but rather rely on a set of built-in processes that prepare a computer for shut down such as saving memory, stopping applications and services, etc. Shutting down in this manner is often referred to a "graceful" shutdown. Hard shutdowns, on the other hand can result in lost or corrupted data and a lengthier time-to-recovery after power returns.

An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) can protect the system from damaging power problems and improve server availability by allowing users to continue working without interruption during a short power outage. During an extended power outage, defined as any outage that might outlast the UPSs runtime, if the system is equipped with UPS shutdown software, it can communicate with the UPS and perform a graceful, unattended system shutdown before the UPS battery is exhausted.

Pandemic Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Top Priority

webmaster — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 06:16:24 -0700

In disaster planning when a pandemic occurs the data center exists but people often are in separate locations. The Disaster Planning and Business Continuity Planning processes need to make the user and business operating experience is as similar as possible so that the work environment is the same in the remote site (often home) as in the office.

A key requirement is to increase remote access capabilities in addition before the pandemic occurs the following planning needs to take place:

Define necessary staff levels for critical business processes
Identify who can work remotely and who has to be in the office
Validation of vaccinations for key staff members
Identify the lights out processing issues for computer operations staff
Identify the network and remote access capacity requirements what percent of workers do you need to be on the system for the enterprise to continue to operate
Train and test of users and IT staffs in how to operate from remote locations
Put in place process for the synchronization of OS system patches and VPN updates if the workstations are not used frequently disable the auto update features for security updates but maintain a process to see that they workstations are up-to-date.
Define specific requirements for security and PCI-DSS when the disaster plan is activated for a pandemic.
Define change management and version control processes to be used and how they will be controlled during the pandemic.

Disaster recovery business continuity basics

webmaster — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:11:34 -0700

Planning for busiess and IT disruptions requires an understanding of the essentials of each of these elements:

Keep people working with business as usual

Planning for employees, business partners and customers makes up the most critical aspect of business recovery planning, Janco Associates says. Depending on the nature of the outage, you may need to figure out how and where people can continue working. For a brief period of time, everyone may need to work remotely, but youll need to have these contingency plans ready, along with automatic notification to tell employees to work at home.
Make accommodations for facilities

Facilities make up an important part of business recovery planning. According to the U.S. National Fire Protection Agency, 35 percent of businesses that experience a major fire are out of business with three years. So, if having everyone work at home is not the best option for your business, recovery vendors can provide interim workplaces such as prefabricated mobile offices or buildings designed specifically for use in times of crisis.

Secure information before the event

Data can make or break a business. According to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 80 percent of companies without well-conceived data protection and recovery strategies go out of business within two years of a major disaster. Backup tape and storage testing services can help ensure that critical data will be available after a major outage. Ideally, says Janco Associates, backups should be performed offsite, preferably at a facility far away from everyday operations. "The best way to protect the information for a small business is to use a remote data backup facility, which actually transmits the data either overnight or at scheduled times to a remote site where it is stored."

Prepare alternate networking routes

Can you keep networks open - or restore them quickly? What happens if you don't have local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) connectivity for an extended period of time? Or phone connections and e-mail? In the worst-case scenario, your business may not have access to any of these vital services. LAN and WAN contingency plans can include services such as remote data access so critical information can be managed and administered from any location. A failover system for e-mail is also highly recommended by Janco Associates, who note that keeping in touch with partners and customers can make all the difference in remaining in business. These solutions can be activated in seconds, but keep in mind that these systems need to be in place prior to an outage.

Keep technology up-to-date and aligned with recovery plans

Keep tabs on how technology is applied within your organization. This can be as simple as making sure a security patch has been correctly applied. Otherwise, recovery plans can be easily derailed when new software and hardware is added or upgraded without testing the potential consequences of changes to business technology. That's why experts like Janco Associates recommend routine system checkups, as well as longer-term business continuity and resilience planning services. "Resilience is the ability to take a blow and keep on going," they say.
Regular checkups provide the best results

Janco Associate recommentds business recovery plans be tested at least semi-annually.

"Plans go out of date very quickly," he says. "Exercise your plan at least once every six months. People find that"s when they realize what they really need to do to improve their plans.

Disaster Recovery Plan Ensures Survival

webmaster — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:35:46 -0700

Every IT manager knows the importance of having an effective and fast disaster recovery plan (DRP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP). Organizations without an adequate plan may find themselves out of business quickly after experiencing a major disaster. Janco Associates has found that over 80% of all enterprises that do not have these plans never open their doors after a disaster strikes.

Organizations that ensure survival following a disaster understand the basics of creating a good plan; however, there are many obstacles and pitfalls that can easily be avoided.

Based on working with thousands of customers, Janco Associates has developed a Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Template that includes everything that you need to create a custom Disaster Plan.

You can download a full copy of the table of contents by going to http://www.e-janco.com/Register_drp.asp.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity a critical part of enterprise operations

webmaster — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 15:43:48 -0700

Disaster recovery is becoming an increasingly important aspect of enterprise computing. As devices, systems, and networks become ever more complex, there are simply more things that can go wrong. As a consequence, recovery plans have also become more complex. According to Janco Associates (the author of the Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Template). For example, fifteen or twenty years ago if there was a threat to systems from a fire, a disaster recovery plan might consist of powering down the mainframe and other computers before the sprinkler system came on, disassembling components, and subsequently drying circuit boards in the parking lot with a hair dryer. Current enterprise systems tend to be too large and complicated for such simple and hands-on approaches, however, and interruption of service or loss of data can have serious financial impact, whether directly or through loss of customer confidence.

Appropriate plans vary from one enterprise to another, depending on variables such as the type of business, the processes involved, and the level of security needed. Disaster recovery planning may be developed within an organization or purchased as a software application or a service. It is not unusual for an enterprise to spend 25% of its information technology budget on disaster recovery.

Nevertheless, the consensus within the DR industry is that most enterprises are still ill-prepared for a disaster. According to the Janco Associates Disaster Recover Business Continuity web site, Despite the number of very public disasters since 9/11, still only about 50 percent of companies report having a disaster recovery plan. Of those that do, nearly half have never tested their plan, which is tantamount to not having one at all.

Cloud as a solution to backup ROI calculation

webmaster — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:50:40 -0700

CIOs, IT Managers, and business professionals are now drawn to the cost effectiveness of cloud services to backup and recover corporate data distributed throughout their business on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. They face the challenge of demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) of making the change from the current methods for protecting data, managing risk, and keeping a distributed workforce productive.

These managers often need to build a compelling business case for deploying online data protection services rather than continuing current methods of backup and recovery or implementing other onsite alternatives. In order to show the profitability of reducing operational costs through an investment in Software as a Service (SaaS) backup and recovery, an ROI analysis must:

Present the changing landscape of business data management, and the challenges this presents for protecting desktops and laptops throughout an organization
Identify all the costs of current methods (and other alternatives) of data protection
Estimate the cost savings of on-line data protection over both current and alternative methods

Disaster recovery done in place should use outside experts

webmaster — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:10:28 -0700

Many organizations simply do not have the luxury of being able to move to an alternative recovery site following a physical disruption. In these cases disaster recovery plans should include the support of a disaster recovery company that will aid the internal recovery and incident team to mitigate against secondary damage, administer triage to the affected areas and expedite the correct equipment, methods and manpower to restore their facility as quickly as possible to a suitable working environment, so that service can be resumed.

Such disaster recovery responders will be on 24/7 standby to attend the client site. The responder will have conducted a survey of the site in advance of an incident, noting critical information so that any recovery and restoration objectives will be expedited without delay.

Speed of response is vital: in order to reduce the level of disruption and physical secondary damage; and to limit the time in which function is lost. Dealing with an incident within the first few hours may reduce the total time of the disruptive event by weeks.

DRP Critical Component of Risk Management

webmaster — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:39:39 -0700

Disaster Recovery (DR) is a critical component of IT disaster planning and risk mitigation strategies, and compounded in difficulty by ever growing data volumes, distributed computing, and new technologies. How can you get creative in protecting more data, recovering more swiftly, but also saving some money?

Download this outline learn how the Janco Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Template can reduce RPOs and RTOs even more.

Disaster Recovery Guide
Business Continuity Planning

ISO 27001, ISO 27002, ISO 17799, Sarbanes-Oxley, and HIPAA Compliant

What is Disaster Recovery and how does the Disaster Recovery Planning Template help?

This DRP Template can be used for any sized enterprise.

The template and supporting material have been updated to be Sarbanes-Oxley compliant. The complete package includes:

Disaster Recovery Planning and Business Continuity Template
Business and IT Impact Analysis Questionnaire
Work Plan
Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity Audit Program

With lost data being a competitive liability, there is no room for downtime in today's business world.

Data De-duplication is a required tool for Disaster Planning

webmaster — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:37:06 -0700

When it comes to backup and recovery, mid-market organizations are challenged to improve backup performance and reliability, manage costs, keep pace with capacity requirements, improve recovery performance and reliability and deal with tape media management. These requirements are driving deployment of disks with de-duplication in backup processes. But data de-duplication is only beginning to take hold in backup processes. For organizations employing tape-based backup strategies, use of de-duplication could enable disk-based protection while driving the cost of secondary disks closer to that of tape storage.

How to request funding for DRP BCP

webmaster — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:58:14 -0700

In these tough economic times how can CIOs get the budget necessary to support Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning.

The following steps should be taken when planning a presentation seeking to gain management support of a Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity program.

Define the scope, objectives, and requirement - It is not enough to have an objective of getting more funding or gaining executive support. Define exactly how much funding is needed, or exactly what form the executive support should take.
Verify expectations - Define what management's expectations for the meeting are.
Focus on business continuity - It makes more sense to get the commitment for resources to achieve a 24-hour recovery time objective (RTO) than to demand the resources for a two-hour RTO and get nothing.
Anticipate objections - realize that the number one objection is the cost, and prepare accordingly. Let the results of the business impact analysis (BIA) justify the "investment" (not "cost").
Prepare a competitive analysis - Executives care what their competition is doing. Annual benchmark studies and surveys are good sources of information on the investments in DPR/BCP being made by industry, by size of organization, etc.
Prepare examples of what has happened to others - Remind the executives of the regulations that affect their business, and the impact of not complying with them. Examples of such regulations are Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley. In addition, research companies that have been damaged significantly in highly publicized news stories because of their failure to act responsibly.
Define the Risk/Reward of DRP/BCP - Research and develop the business continuity program's return on investment.
Package Resources - Work with vendors like Janco Associates who can package infrastructure solutions like the Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Template to accelerate the process and minimize the cost.
Get buy-in for key decision makers before you meet to ask for a decision - The effort will have greater success if key decision makers and other departments within the organization support the DRP/BCP program. The power of a presentation supported by key executives, marketing, IT security, physical security, human resources, facilities, and risk management is highly significant.

Backup requirments defined

webmaster — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:31:28 -0700

CIOs, CSO's, Disaster Recovery Managers, and Business Continuity Mangers constantly are working to improve their recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO) by performing fast, non-disruptive backups, and by performing data restoration. All comprehensive data protection solutions involve many considerations and contingencies.

Here are some of the things that can go wrong with your data and the backup requirements that need to be addressed:

Accidental or malicious deletion of critical data - Requirement that provides the ability to quickly and easily restore individual files and folders.
Data that is lost or corrupted over a period of time - Requirement to roll back individual records to fix database corruptions. The ability to recover data from any previous point in time, and have it as granular as possible.
A crashed disk - Requirement to recover a disk volume is different than recovering a single file, but it should be done just as quickly, and with automation to help keep operational disruptions to a minimum.
A server failure - Requirement to restore operations when replacing a broken server may be complicated by the need to install different drivers on the new system if the hardware is not an exact match. It helps to have the capability to move the application workload to a standby server (with different hardware) or virtual server while the system is being replaced or repaired.
A local or regional disaster - Requirement when you lose an entire office to fire, flood, or other disaster, have a current copy of your important information in another location that is outside the disaster zone.
Remote offices and branch offices - Requirement to have a process in place to restore with minimal technical support as remote and branch offices often do not have the luxury of having an on-site technical resource to assist in backups and restores.
Resource-intensive backup processes - Requirement frequent or even continuous backup that is not resource-intensive .
Security breaches - Requirement to secure data. When moving data between sites, it needs to be protected from potential security breaches. A breach of data security, whether actual damage is done or not, can be devastating to your company's reputation, as dozens of large enterprises and government agencies have found in recent years.

Security and DRP play a role in CIO Infrastructure Design

webmaster — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:37:31 -0700

Designing IT Infrastructure requires CIOs to consider the globalized world they are now in. It is necessary and valuable for CIOs to understand the fundamental trends that are pushing businesses to redesign their operations around this new reality. Factors they need to consider are:

Security - With the growing importance of digital applications and data, the sources of threats to enterprise data have multiplied dramatically. Everything from natural disasters to criminals to corrupt sources within the company might try to steal or corrupt data. While businesses do everything that they can to stop these threats in the first place, they still must be prepared to recover from these threats as quickly as possible.
Business Continuity and Disaster Planning - As businesses have expanded the need for anytime, anywhere application access has become a requirement. At the same time, follow the sun (global 24/7) operations have shrinking maintenance windows and a need for applications to be running at all times. Delay or loss of data for any reason system failure, natural disasters has a domino-like effect across the entire organization, at any time of the day or night.
Flexibility - Most businesses now operate across international borders and CIOs must be able to respond to opportunities and challenges faster than ever before. CIOs are usually battling well-resourced organizations that may be based where the opportunity originated, or another globalizing company that is reaching out for new opportunities. In order to compete, a business has to be faster to deliver a product or service as good, or better, than that of potentially any other company in the world.
Simplicity - Increases in technology have typically led to increased complexity. While per unit costs of technology are always decreasing, in aggregate companies see an increase in cost. With the pressure on IT to act less as a cost center and more as a way to increase the profitability of business units, just adding more storage, more bandwidth, or additional technologies throughout the organization is no longer an acceptable approach to managing information technology. Successful CIOs are investing in numerous technologies including; continuous data protection, virtualization, and wireless connectivity. They are trying slim down ITs footprint while increasing their businesss competitive advantages. The CIO is typically in a difficult position, assessing where to try and cut costs while still moving forward with a plan to continually enhance IT services to the business.

Nature can distroy anything that man can make

webmaster — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:25:46 -0700

Nothing man-made can withstand the forces of nature. In certain regions of the country, natural disasters are not a question of if, but of when. The main headquarters of many companies are located in North Carolina, right in the heart of Hurricane Alley. In addition, Southern California is earthquake and brush fire central.

They know a hurricane, earthquake, or brush fire is going to be coming along at some point; it is inevitable. At the worst, you are looking at physical damage to facilities and systems, or flooding. At minimum, it will knock out power and your network circuit. Even if power and network stay up, just the fact that you do not have physical access to your system may prevent you from doing a crucial operational task.

How a CIO should chose a backup site

webmaster — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:35:51 -0700

Disasters cost money, interrupt business operations and may cause the enterprise or government agency to fail, which makes planning a business continuity issue. Disasters can interfere with or even terminate IT and communications services. It does not matter whether the disaster affects the enterprise, government or service provider. Floods, fire, volcanoes, earthquakes and other events can destroy a primary and backup site if they are too close together.

Telecom service providers can offer expert advice on where to locate a backup facility and should position themselves with CIOs to offer both consulting and services. After all, they have experience planning for their own primary and backup facilities, as well.

A CIO's selection of the backup site location will always have risks and liabilities attached to the decision. Adequate and reliable communications to the backup site and communications between the primary and backup sites are what most service providers can successfully offer to the CIO.

In choosing a backup site, CIO's must first determine how big a disaster plan for and budget for it. The level of disaster planning increases as you goes down the following list:

Building closed/evacuated
Loss of power
Loss of communications
Facility damaged/destroyed
Community disaster (10-to-30 mile range)
Regional disaster (30-to100 mile range)

Backup strategies for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

webmaster — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:56:33 -0700

In order to meet current demands for application and data availability, many enterprises are increasingly relying on the wide-area network (WAN) as a storage transport resource for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning. This enables Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity operations to be centralized - reducing redundancy and lowering overhead - and to leverage innovative disk-based backup and replication technologies offered by the leading storage vendors. Decentralized, tape and other removable media Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity strategies are simply too costly and labor-intensive. In practice, they fail to meet the recovery time and recovery point objectives (RTOs/RPOs) demanded by companies facing increasingly stringent customer service and regulatory requirements.

Disaster Recovery versus Business Continuity

webmaster — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:56:01 -0700

Disaster recovery is about re-establishing IT services in the face of large-scale hardware failure or sabotage, facilities failure and/or regional natural disaster. Disaster-recovery capabilities are measured by the amount of time it takes to re-establish services and the amount of data loss. Business continuity is the ability to continue operations with little or no downtime in some of these scenarios.

Lesssons learned from Iceland Volcano

webmaster — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:20:07 -0700

The Icelandic volcanic dust cloud provides some concerns for disaster planning and business continuity planning:

Business redundancy - businesses that have a natural redundancy and resilience capability built in as part of everyday operations were well placed before, during and after these events.
Crises will happen - crises are a routine part of business of as usual and not a special event.

While recent events may well be an opportunity for business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management consultants, businesses that focus on implementing redundancy and resiliency into business because it is good for business anyway and achieve business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management capabilities as a bonus, are likely to get more from these activities than those that just use consultant to develop business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management capabilities in isolation.